Sara Sallam. The Sun Weeps for the Land and Calls from the Garden of Stones
A book edited by
Paolo Del Vesco, Christian Greco e Alessandro Masetti
Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
2026
The dossier Sara Sallam. The Sun Weeps for the Land and Calls from the Garden of Stones continues the Museo Egizio in Turin’s series dedicated to the dialogue between its archaeological collection and contemporary artistic practices. The volume documents the project developed by Sara Sallam during the artist residency programme launched for the museum’s Bicentenary (1824–2024) and explores the counter-narratives through which the artist reinterprets the history of the collection and the displacement of Egyptian cultural heritage.
The Artwork
As co-editor, in addition to contributing to the editorial development of the volume, I wrote the essay The Sun Weeps for the Land and Calls from the Garden of Stones. Sara Sallam at the Museo Egizio, where I reconstructed the project’s development and explored the main themes of the artist’s practice.
The installation investigates the circumstances surrounding the removal from Egypt and acquisition of the statues of the goddess Sekhmet now held at the Museo Egizio. Sallam addresses their dispersal through three works that bring archival materials into dialogue with ritual practices, reflecting on the loss of their original context and the spiritual function for which they were created.
In the collage Shifting Sands, Carving Scars, the archaeological extraction of the statues is depicted as a wound inflicted on the Egyptian landscape. Prayer Beads symbolically reunites the Sekhmets through 730 cyanotype prints, conveying a sense of the scale of the original sculptural group, now dispersed across numerous museums. In A Broken Circle of Sisters, finally, the statues held in Turin symbolically embark on a return journey to Egypt through a filmed performance that evokes ancient funerary rituals.
The Essay
The essay traces Sara Sallam’s relationship with the Museo Egizio from her first solo exhibition in Italy in 2022 to her 2024 residency. Her practice uses contemporary art to critically revisit episodes in the history of archaeology and to construct alternative perspectives to the Western narratives through which Egyptian cultural heritage has traditionally been interpreted in museums.
The text examines how Sallam reframes the dispersal of the Sekhmets as a rupture affecting both the history and the very meaning of the artefacts. Their transfer to Western museums coincides with the loss of the context and sacred function for which they were created. Through her works, the artist attempts to symbolically re-establish this broken connection.
Contents
INTRODUCTION | Christian Greco
THE SUN WEEPS FOR THE LAND AND CALLS FROM THE GARDEN OF STONES. SARA SALLAM AT THE MUSEO EGIZIO | Alessandro Masetti
HISTORIES OF EXPLOITATION AND DISPERSAL: A CURATORIAL REACTION TO SARA SALLAM’S INSTALLATION AT THE MUSEO EGIZIO | Paolo Del Vesco
SARA SALLAM
Colophon
SARA SALLAM. THE SUN WEEPS FOR THE LAND AND CALLS FROM THE GARDEN OF STONES
Edited by: Paolo Del Vesco, Christian Greco, Alessandro Masetti
Coordination: Divina Centore
Translations: Il Nuovo Traduttore Letterario S.C.
© 2026 Museo Egizio
© 2026 Franco Cosimo Panini Editore